Leo Politi
| Leo Politi | |
|---|---|
Leo Politi (left) and Rob Wagner, 1938
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| Born | Atiglio Leoni Politi November 21, 1908 |
| Died | 1996 Fresno, California, USA |
| Occupation | Artist, author |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Italian |
| Education | National Art Institute (Monza, Italy) |
| Genre | Children's picture books; drawings, paintings |
| Subject | Central America, Mexican-America |
| Literary movement | Multiculturalism, pacifism |
| Notable awards |
Caldecott Medal 1950 |
| Spouse | Helen Fontes |
| Children |
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Leo Politi (1908–1996) was an Italian-American artist and author who wrote and illustrated some 20 children's books, as well as Bunker Hill, Los Angeles (1964), intended for adults. His works often celebrated cultural diversity, and many were published in both English and Spanish.
Politi was the younger of two children, born Atiglio Leoni Politi, in Fresno, on November 21, 1908, to Lodovico Politi and Mary Cazzola. Politi’s sister, Marie Therese, was two years older.
Leo Politi’s life was the stuff that picture books are made of. He was transported to Italy at the age of seven — in an “Indian Chief suit,” via transcontinental railroad and ocean liner — and grew up, constantly drawing, in his mother’s native village of Broni near Milan.
Lodovico left the family to take a job as a cobbler in Piacenza. Marie went to live with a poor aunt who operated a roadside inn. Politi was placed in a boarding home with an elderly woman and her daughter. Politi loved Broni, a deep affection that remained for the rest of his life. In Broni he began to develop his artistic sense, drawing sketches of village life.
By 1920 the Politis reunited and moved to London where Politi was exposed to the culture and cosmopolitan lifestyle that Broni could never offer. On weekends, Leo and Marie packed a lunch basket and along with hundreds of other poor children lined up at a London theater to watch live shows and Charlie Chaplin films. Politi devoured everything that London had to offer a boy. He wandered through the city's museums to view the works of Vincent van Gogh and other masters.
After one year, the Politi family returned to Broni where Leo began studying art on a six-year scholarship at the Superior Institute of Fine Arts—also known as the National Art Institute—at the Royal Palace at Monza near Milan.
In 1931, Politi, at the age of 22, left Italy for California. Passing through the Panama Canal he discovered the exotic beauty of Central America. He sketched the things that he saw and small stories began to bubble up within him.
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Wikipedia